Third Recon Team
The Third Recon Team (第三偵察団 Dai san teisatsu-dan) is a 12-man unit with 3 light vehicles tasked with civil reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Equipment The Third Recon Team have a total of 12 members and they all carry a variety of weapons. Their standard mission load-out consists of three vehicles. They use a Komatsu LAV (Light Armored Vehicle) with a Rotational Armored Gun mount on its roof with an additional armour around the gun mount for extra protection (as used in the JSDF's Iraqi deployments), and a licensed built M2 Browning by Sumitomo mounted on the RAG's pintle. There's also a Mitsubishi Type 73 light truck (shin) with either the cloth roof covering or mounted with a M249 FN MINIMI licensed built by Sumitomo. The final vehicle is the military version of the Toyota High Mobility Vehicle which also has a cloth roof covering. The infantry are armed with a Howa Type 64 battle-rifle (occasionally with Type 64 bayonet) and a Nissan/IHI 110mm LAM , a licensed built version of the German Panzerfaust-3. As for side arms, they also have a licensed Minebea P-9 by Minebea carried in Safariland 6004 Holsters. They are issued with the Type 88 helmet with JGSV-V8 mount (AN/PVS-14) and Type 2 Armour with deployment flags (Japan flag patches on helmet, armor and uniform only occur on active deployments outside of Japan ie. Iraq) Mirroring the real life JGSDF, the mag pouches and Canteen pouches are Alice pouches with Molle adapters. Their clothing are described as "Green with brown dots" which is most likely the Type 3 All Season Uniform. Officially though, the recon teams are switching over to type 4 uniforms, which are fictional. Some characters are shown wearing privately purchased Combat shirts and other privately purchased equipment. Members First Lieutenant Yōji Itami, Gender: Male, Age: 33, Team Leader / Team Captain Sergeant Major Sōichirō Kuwahara, Gender: Male, Age: 50, Second-In-Command Master Sergeant Tetsuya Nishina, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Rifleman Sergeant First Class Akira Tomita, Gender: Male, Age: 27, Rifleman Sergeant First Class Mari Kurokawa, Gender: Female, Age: 23, Combat Medic Sergeant First Class Shino Kuribayashi, Gender: Female, Age: 24, Close Combat Specialist Sergeant Takeo Kurata, Gender: Male, Age: 21, Driver Sergeant Azuma, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Driver, (Could this be Leading Private Higashi's first name?) Leading Private '''Tou see Manga in talk below. '''Leading Private Daisuke Tozu, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Rifleman Leading Private Wataru Katsumoto, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Heavy Weapons Specialist Leading Private Hayato Sasagawa, Gender: Male, Age: ?, M2HB Gunner Leading Private Hitoshi Furuta, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Rifleman Leading Private ?, Higashi ,Gender: Male Age: ?, Driver? Gallery Itami Youji battlefield.png|First Lieutenant: Itami Youji Shino Kuribayashi.jpg|Sergeant First Class: Shino Kuribayashi Kuwahara.jpg|Sergeant Major: Kuwahara Kurokawa anime.jpg|Sergeant First Class: Kurokawa Kurata anime.jpg|Sergeant: Kurata Takeo Third Recon Unit Intros 1 Anime Episode 2.png|Third Recon Unit Introductions first frame Anime Episode 2. Third Recon Unit Intros 2 Anime Episode 2.png|Third Recon Unit Introductions second frame Anime Episode 2. Third Recon Unit Intros 3 Anime Episode 2.png|Third Recon Unit Introductions third frame Anime Episode 2. Third Recon Unit Intros 4 Anime Episode 2.png|Third Recon Unit Introductions fourth frame Anime Episode 2. Third Recon Team as seen by Itami 1.png|Itami's musing about his Third Recon Team. First page of his review of members from Chapter 38 page 36. Third Recon Team as seen by Itami 2.png|Itami's musing about his Third Recon Team. Second page of his review of members from Chapter 38 page 37. Sergeants Wataru Katsumoto and Takeo Kurata Anime Season 1 introduction.png|Sergeants Wataru Katsumoto and Takeo Kurata Anime Season 1 introduction. Tomita, Kuribayashi, and Kurokawa from the introductory music Season 1 Anime.png|Sergeants first class Tomita, Kuribayashi, and Kurokawa from the introductory music Season 1 Anime. First Lieutenant Yoji Itami from introduction song Season 1 Anime.png|First Lieutenant Yoji Itami from introduction song Season 1 Anime. Third Recon Team Manga.png|Third Recon Team Manga chapter 2 Notice 12 soldiers + Itami Third Recon Team and Itami girls from introductory song Season 1 Anime.png|Third Recon Team + Itami's girls Season 1 opening music Anime. Note 11 soldiers + Itami. Hitoshi Furuta, Hayato Sasagawa Daisuke Tozu and unknown Higashi.png|Hitoshi Furuta, Hayato Sasagawa Daisuke Tozu and unknown Higashi from the lead song season 1 Anime. Notes *It should be noted that the team organization of the JGSDF forces is distinctly different from that of the US military. A Company-grade Officer (O-1, O-2, O-3) in the US military would at the minimum be in charge of a platoon sized element, but in apparently a Company-grade Officer in the JGSDF would be leading a small squad sized element. **Another reason could be that 3rd Recon is assembled from picked troops with a variety of special skills, most of whom have reenlisted at least once, making it a semi-elite force worthy of a high-ranked leader. *The 3rd Recon's organization composed of more NCOs than enlisted maybe due to the fact that the Special Region Task Force is only composed of 3 brigades of infantry, resulting in only highly ranked and experienced individuals to be sent. **Another reason could be the fact that 3rd Recon is a force recon squad, which would typically have a higher ratio of NCOs to enlisted to increase the skills of the squad. Also, the JGSDF as a whole has a higher ratio of NCOs because of time-in-grade and reenlistment policies. *It is a bit weird that a Special Forces Officer like Itami is leading a normal squad of infantry, but this again could be contributed to the fact that the Special Region Task Force is small. Or it could be that, though Itami is "S" qualified, SFG commanders don't consider him reliable (good enough to pass, not good enough to serve). *It seems as if Itami is trying his best to work out with the squad, and the squad seems to love him as their commanding officer. *3rd Recon seems to be much better at the task of "willing hearts and minds" than other recon teams, interacting with Imperial locals with apparent ease. Sugawara believes 3rd Recon is more "people-friendly" because of the influence of Itami's relaxed leadership style. Category:Third Recon Team Category:Japan Self-Defense Forces Category:Groups